Sustaining family. Composting toilets.

This reflection comes from Ryan Walker.

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It has been about 6 days now since we have arrived in Jamaica. This has truly been an immersive experience. I have seen more “organic farming” in these past five to six days than I have seen my entire life.  My understanding of sustainable living and sustainable practices has been questioned and reframed and questioned and reframed again and again. Every time I encounter someone else my perspective on the subject is changed and broadened. What resonates most about these past few days is the realization of how sustainability is not just something academics speak about behind closed doors but that people of all ages putting these principles into practices every day including living habits and organic farming.

Composting toilet outhouse.

I have been challenged to adapt to a lifestyle well beyond my comfort zone. Living in an area with compostable toilets is not really my thing (pictured at left). Yes, it saves water but this is something I really would like to go without. While I find it hard every day to continue on my own way, seeing these farmers making a living off these crops, pushing themselves to make ends meet, and pushing their children to become better than them is something remarkable; seeing fathers and mothers create a way out for their children is truly remarkable, the strength and courage they have is unbelievable.

The people I have met so far are some of the most hardworking and selfless individuals I have ever met. Many of their lives are centered around communal bonds and community service and that is one thing I admire most about them. They all have this yearning to selflessly serve and provide for their community, whether it is providing jobs or just keeping the young involved in something constructive, these people are paving the way.

If only this sort of support was mimicked in the States, so many more people would be in a better place emotionally.

One thing I struggle to understand has been the necessity to farm on a hillside. I understand now that you have to make due with what have but it is hard for me to quantify the need to put my life at risk on a mountainside. My family and I would really need to look elsewhere for a livelihood.

A few burning questions have been burning for the last few days:

• Would you be able to put aside all of yourself in order to provide for your family at all cost?
• I’ve known Americans who cast harsh judgments on Jamaicans. How can they pass such harsh judgments on people and a history they have never met nor understood? How can you condemn someone and their country for having the same flaws as you do?

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So how about that second-to-last question? Do you think you would be able to live and work on a hillside in the tropics? Could you be sustained doing that?